Improvement in the construction of sates



,- tlnitnl my wm tant @anni BENJAMIN sHEItWooD AND DANIEL FITZGERALD, OENEW YORK, N. Y.

Letters Patent No. 88,521, dated March 30, 1869.

The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and making part of the same.

To all whom 'it may concern:

.Be it known that we, BENJAMIN-SHERWOOD and DANIEL FITZGERALD, of New York, in the county of New York, and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful.Improvements in Bank-Vaults and Safes and do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, .and to the letters of reference marked thereon. Y

The nature of our invention consists' in the construction of a safe, or bank-vault, of a solid block of metal, with an orifice in .its centre, and so that the sides -and front thereof may be of great thickness and strength, to prevent the entrance of the burglaiis tool, and in such a manner that, when cast, itcan be iinished oli on its exterior, without detracting from the strength of the metal.

In order to enableothers skilled in the art to which our invention appertains, to make and use the same, we will now proceed to describe how the same is or may be constructed, referring to the annexed draw- In the usual inode of making safes, the sides are..

generally from one to two inches thick, seldom, if ever, over two inches, and it does not matter in what manner, or by what processes, safes of that thickness are made, they can easilj be broken open by bnrglars'. If the thickness of the sides were increased to a considerable extent, it would, of course, be absolutelytimpossible, in any manner, to break such a safe open, and the increased weight such a safe would obtain, by the thickness ot' its sides,'would preclude any possibility of its being carried away. l, t i

To make such a safe, and one that shall be entirely impenetrable to the drill or chisel `of a burglar, we cast a solid block of metal, by any suitable process, and of any shape or dimensions desired.

A represents such a block, which is, on one side, provided with 'an opening, and a chamber, or cavity, I3, in its centre. y

The block A, as well as'its ,chamberl B, may be of any size or shape desired, only so as to leave the sides of the safe of a great thickness, say, for instance, from one to' two feet. y

The opening in the side, which leads to the chamber B, is stopped by a plug, C, of the saine thickness as the side of the safe, said plug being provided with any suitable combination or burglar-proof lock.

In the drawings, We have represented the block A as being square; but it will readily he' seen that all its qualities would remain the same even, if', for instance,

Vthe corners were rounded or cut off. Hence, the shape,

oriorm of the safe is immaterial, only so that its sides are of suicient thickness to resist any'i'orce that may be brought to bear on the same.

Besides the advantages of being a perfectly burglar-f proof safe, it possesses still another quality, which, even if. it were the only one, would recommend our safe to all. 1t is well known, that casting safes ofthe usual thicknesswill render them very liable to burst by the slightestirregularity in the casting; even the bestnished safes are liable to crack or burst open; bntif' the Walls, or sides had been of great thickness, this would not have occurred.

A safe, cast in a solid block, with a depositingcavity, as above, can be made in any shape desired; for instance, if made from a rectangular block, as shown in the drawings, the corners ou all sides may be taken oif, andthe safe assume a spherical form, as heretofore patented by me, and while possessing all the advantages of the same, be'perfect and have none of the imperfections ofthe cast spherical safe, the thickness of y the safe is preserved, 4and the cracking ofthe exterior is prevented.

In casting a bulk of metal, such as a safe or large gun, the exterior will almost invariably crack or sca-le when cooling, and when casting a safe of the construction 'herein shown, unless extreme care is taken, the safe will be imperfect.

The imperfections may he removed, in a safe of great thickness, by cutting or otherwise finishing the same, so that any-shaped safe can be made. It maybe cut in a spherical, semi-spherical,'oval, or other form, or it may be left in the form as now presented.

. Having thus fully described our invention,

What we claim as new, and desire to secure by Let- A safe, constructed as described, of -a block of metal, having auopening on one side, with a chamber, or cav# ity in the centre, leaving the walls, or sides of the safe of great thickness, so as to be able to resist any attempts to break the same open, substantially as herein set forth.

BENJAMIN SHERWOOD.

` DANIEL FITZGERALD.

Witnesses:

OWEN'G. WARREN, J. D. STURTEVANT. 

